Process of erecting roofs for buildings and the like



Mauth 12, 1935. v H. G. oNsTAD PROCESS OF ERECTING ROOFS FCRl BUILDINGS AND THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dect 1o, 1932 March l2, 1935. H. G. oNsTAD PROCESS OF ERECTING ROOFS FOR BUILDINGS AND THE LIKE 4 sheets-sheet 2 Filed DeC l0, 1932 In we?? La? @my /@szaa March 12, 1935-y H. G. oNs-i-AD y PROCESS OF ERECTING' ROOFS FOB BUILDINGS AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 1o, 1952 Y 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 March 12, 1935.

H'. G. ONSTAD PROCESS OF ERECTING ROOFS FOR BUILDINGS AND THE LIKE Filed Deo. 1o, 1932 4 Sheets-Shqqt 4 I I?? Wfar Y f/nzy f /wzad deffdrneygsi Patented Mar. 12, 1935 PATE-"Nr OFFICE! 1,994,087 PROCESS or ERECT'INGnoorsronlsUILD-y c i vrNds, AND- i Henry'GiOnstad, Chicago, Ill., assigner to James Stewart Corporation, 4Chicago, Ill., a corpora- Y tien of Illinois v Application Deember 10, 193g serial No. 646,577,

13 Claims; n

- My invention relates to improvements in proc. esses of erectingfroofs for buildings and the like and has for one .object to provide a new andv img proved processof erecting whereby roo-fs, floors 5y andbuilding walls may'. be erected and installed eave pole.

more rapidly, .easily andclieaply than .has rheretofore been the fease. Another object of my in-Y vention is to provide a process of erecting a roof structuren/herein a plurality of vlongcontinuous` 'roof 4sheets are'drawn into place anchored vand z thereof; is assembled from them without the use of scaffoldingv` or supporting structures.y Other objectsl will appear from time to timefthroughoutthe'specication and claims. Y i In general, I propose toprovide a roof or sima' ilar structure wherein therewill be two anchorf age abutments, one of them serving as the ridge pole, the 'other asrthe eave pole. `rI'hese abutmentswhen VI amdealing -with 'thereof-will be one above'the vother and spaced apart,k perhaps in'some vinstances many' hundreds-of feet. I propose to'form a roof section which willicons'ist in Aa thin steel plate, perhaps six `feet or more in width and in vlength somewhat more kthan the lineal ydistance between the ridge pole and the Thissheetrmay b'e performedy at the mill and shipped as a unit 'or may be built up by assemblingor riveting-or bolting a plurality ofv short sheetsvto give 'a sheet-:whose length 'is somewhat greater thanthe distance between the ridge pole andthe eave pole. -If this strip is as- Y. sembled in the field', it will be ,assembled ona templet, preferable adjacent sheets will be buttwelded together except for-the rjoint between two Aadjacent sheets which will' be'lapfwelded sofas to avoid the necessity'of accurately cutting the( sheets'to length'. A plurality of these strips-will" be prepared and will-be laid out on thel ground at one side of the eave pole in'general alignment with the position they are to assumewith the' roof. The upper and lower edges of` these strips will preferably be reinforced by across reinforcing strip welded or perhapsY riveted in place andV bolt or'rivet holeswill be driven through the strip and the reinforcement. One `or morepulleys will be erected adjacent ythe ridge polev and cables will be passedl down over these pulleys to a bridle attached to the upper end of the strip. An anchorage cable will be attached to the lower end of the strip and these'cables will be associated vwith hoisting engines so that the upper end of the strip maybe drawn up over the eave pole and up to the ridgezpole, the brake at the` rear end of the strip maintaining a tension on the spring so that it will'not sag down too far.

01 ,10S-,1r s Thsrmanipulation will continue until the upper edge of thestrip has been broughtinto engagement with the ridge pole and the loweredge into engagement with the Veave, pole when by bolting,

riveting or welding the strip will -be fastened at 5 its upper and its lower endfto the ridge and eave pole, after Whichthe strip hangs freely under the influence of gravity in a-flat curve between lthetwo poles.Y The process will be continued withthevnext and succeeding-strips until Aall the l0` strips have been arranged-side by side to form the,v Y roof. Then an operator using the strips as his scaffolding will weld adjacent strips together,

thus Vmaking a weathertight roof capable of supporting its own weight and requiring no scaffold- 15 ing for, its erection andrequiring no intermediate f supportsbetween the upper andk lower edges of the roof; Y

'"As the .welding is'being done,` some of the ad-v jacent strips will not be welded Vbut will be cut 20 away" if they have not previously been preformed so as to'provide' expansion joints or. clearance between some .ofthe adjacent strips. The weathertight closure comprisingarelatively thin flexible metallicsheet will be welded to the opposed edges* 25 ofv such strips'in connection with the welding operation. This-is obviously necessary 'to permit expansion andcontractionof the roofsheet in a Vdirection perpendicular to the axis of the individual strips, expansion and contraction par- 30, allel with the axis being of course taken care of by change inthe length of the arc.

If .desired the brake andhold back at the rear -Y Y end of the strip may bedispensed with.V In that case two or more cables will be strung from the 35 ridge pole to the eave pole 'and the strip will be hauled up'along the cables as along a track.

' Underthese circumstances some'kind of guide' means 'would vofcourse1`r e required to keep the strip from slidingzoff the cable. 40

Preferably -it is :a welded arrangement but of course the Ystrips might be allowed to overlap and be riveted together but such a structure would not benearly as cheap; convenient or satisfactory. i

This same'system might be applied tothe erection of side panels for a building or to the erection 'of floor panels but in any event it consists in preforming on the ground the long panel or sheet: of metal of the properlength and then tak- 5 ing hold Vof one vend of it and hauling it into position and holding it there until it is fastened in A position without the use of any special scaffolding' while using the metal itself as its ownV tension 5r 0 supporting element. It will benotedl that the structure erected according to my process is disclosed and claimed in my copending application Ser. No. 646,578, filed December 10, 1932.

My invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a plan view of the structure partially completed showing the method in which assembly takes place;

Figure 2 is a section alongV the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a modified view similar to Figure 1;V

is illustrated as applied to a grain elevator, thatV being a type of structure to which it is especially well adapted but it will be understood, of course, that the invention might be used in connection with many different types of structure. As applied to the grain elevator, we have a series of concrete bins or silos Av A1 A2 tied together or built together in a unitary 'structure in any suitable manner. In this instance, the bins A A1 form the ends of the house, the bins A2 form one side,

thusbounding three sides of a relatively large rectangular area which may be used as a working space or astorage space in the interior of the house. Along the open side is a relatively narrow structure A3 which may be used as a working space or for a conveyor or for any other suitable purpose. It comprises in general diagonal columns A4, outer wall columns A5, roof beams A3,

'and diagonal tension taking studs A7 extendingfrom the tops of the column A4 to an anchorage A8 which for ther purpose of convenience is ends of the column A5. This structure is provided with the usual kind of roof A9 and side walls or sheathing A10.

This roof A9 along its upper inner edge, immediately adjacent the jimction points of the columns A4 and tension members A'7 is provided with a concrete or other suitable reinforcing anchorage ledge B having reinforcing bars Blassociated with an angle iron B2 on the rear side of the anchorage ledge and extending throughout the whole lengthof the structure. The upper face of the member B is flat and upwardly and inwardly inclined as at B3. The upper flange of the angle B2 isA apertured along its entire length as at B4.

Referring now to the upper end of the structure, the silos or bins carry at their top a horizontal concrete roof slab C which projects out between adjacent bins to be substantially tangent to the outer extremity of each bin. This roof is thickened as at C1, the thickened portion tying in to the circular walls of the bin. Bars C2 are embedded in the roof and extend out to the angle plate C3, the lower ange of the angle plate being downwardly inclined to the lower structure A3 above referred to. The part of the roof slab immediately above this angle plate is filled with located beneath the lowerV any suitable packing or insulating material as at C4. The fiange C5V of the angle plate is perforated along its entire length.

The roof proper is formed of a series of steel strips D. These separate steel strips are preferably preformed in any suitable templet by welding or riveting from separate short strips as at D1 although of course, under some circumstances the whole strip might be shaped fromthe material cut to proper length. In my preferred exemplication, however, the separate strip elements are butt Welded as at D1, one strip being lap welded as at D2 for the purpose of convenience so as to make it unnecessary to cut the strips accurately in the eld to fit the templet L. The assembled strip is provided at each end with a welded reinforcing plate D3 D4, which plate is spaced slightly inwardly from the end of the strip. Holes D5 are punched or drilled through the strip and through the plate and holes D6 are punched or drilled at the end beyond the reinforcing strip. The structure is erected by preparing or placing the prepared roof strip in position on the ground in line with the position it is to occupy on the roof. It is then moved rinto position on the roof with the holes D5 in the reinforcing plate D4 in line with the holes in the flange C5 and with the holes D5 in the reinforcing plate D3 in line with the holes in the angle flange B2. The bolts D8 having previously been placed in the flange C5 will be caused to pass through the holes in the plate D1 and the bolts DI can also be placed through the holes D5 in the reinforcing plate D3 and also in the flange B2. When these bolts are tightened up they may be welded or riveted, or bolts or rivets alone may be used torigidly fasten the upper and lower end of each strip toits anchorage at top and bottom of the structure. The structure is completed by placing strip after strip side by side until a structure such as is found in Figure 1 has been made. The two ends of each strip being rigidly fastened to an anchorage, the strip will hang freely ina catenary curve between its two anchorage points and as expansion and contraction takes place, the curve will change but the anchorage needs not to move and change in the curve will take care of change in the total length. L1 is a hoisting yoke adapted to be bolted to the lea'ding edge of the plate.` L2 is a hold back yoke adapted to be bolted to the rear end of theplate.

M is a sheave erected at lthe ridge pole of the structure. M1 is a roller removably mounted at the eave pole of the structure. M2 are cables passing from the hoisting yoke over the roller over theV sheave and then to the hoisting engine M3. M1 is a cable passing from a track drum associated with the hoisting engine M5 to the hold back yoke so that the operator may by manipulating the cables pull the leading end of the strip forward out of the templet L over the roll and up to the ridge pole, meanwhile holding back on the rear end of the strip to prevent too sharp a sag. When the strip is positioned with its ends in juxtaposition with the upper and lower supports it may easily be bolted or riveted in place, whereupon the yokes may be removedand the process continued indefinitely.

In the modified form shown, instead of using the hold back anchorage, cables N N1 are used hanging between the two abutment or supporting members. Shoes N2 are bolted to the plate and guide the plate along the cable. The single hoisting rope N3 passing from the yoke over the sheave may be used to raise the metallic strip lalong the on the ridge-poleV down to thehoisting engine cables which actr as tracks, in thiscase no hold back is needed.r

In the modified form of structure shown in.

Figures V8 and 9, vthe operation so -far as the manipulation of the sheet i'sconcerned is exactly the same but the position of the sheet Yitself when the job is done is different in thatithe sheet may serve asa floor support cras a wall or sheathing but the'manipluation 'or' control is the same in each case.V I

I claim:

1. V'Ihejprocess of erecting a roof which consists in erecting two spaced supporting members, preparing a relatively narrow elongated lmetallic strip in length somewhat greater than the distance between said supporting members, moving the strip bodily as a 'unit into Aposition with` each end in juxtaposition with one of said supporting members, fastening suchends to the radjacent supporting members, continuing the process with a second strip and then fastening the adjacent edges of the strips together.

2. The process of erecting a roof which consists in erecting two spaced supporting members, attaching a plurality of metallic plates end to end to form a narrow elongated metallic strip in length somewhat greater than the distancebetween said supporting members,-moving the strip bodily as a unit into position with each end in juxtaposition with one of said supporting rmembers, fastening such ends to the adjacent supporting members, continuing the process With a second strip and then fastening the adjacent edges of the strips together.

3. The process of erecting a roofl which consists in erecting two spaced supporting members,

preparing a relatively narrow elongated metallicv Aeach end in juxtaposition with one of -saidsupporting members, fastening such ends to the adjacent supporting members, continuing the process with a second strip and then fasteningthe adjacent edges of the strips together;

4. 'I'he process of erecting a roof which consists in erecting two spaced supporting members, attaching a plurality of metallic strips end to end to form a narrow elongated metallic strip in length somewhat greater than the distance between said supporting members, placing said strip on the ground in general alignment with the position it isy ultimately to assume, moving the strip longitudinally as a unit into position with each end in juxtaposition with one of 'said supporting members, fastening vsuch ends to the adjacent supporting members, continuing the process with a second strip and then fastening the adjacent edges of the strips together.

5. The process of erecting a roof which consists in erecting two spaced supporting members, preparing a relatively narrow elongated metallic strip in length somewhat greater than the distance between said supporting members, placing said'strip on the ground in general alignment with the position it is ultimately to assume, attaching a tension member to the forward end of the strip and a hold back member to the rear end of the strip, pulling on the tension member to move the strip. until its forward end is in immediate juxtaposition with one of the supporting members whileholding back on the-fear end of the` strip until itsrear end is in immediate' tween said supporting members,placingsaid strip on the ground in general alignment with the position itis ultimately `to assume, attaching a tension member to theforwardend of the strip and ahold back member tothe rear end of the strip,V

pulling on the tension member to move the strip until itsforward end is in'immediate juxtaposition with oneof thesupporting members while holdingrback on the rear en'd of the'strip until its i rear end-is in immediatejuxtaposition with the other member, then fastening suchends to the adjacent supporting members and continuing the process with the second strip and then fastening the edges of the adjacent strips together. j

1. The process of erecting a permanent structure which consists in erecting a plurality of generally horizontal supporting members, preparking a relatively narrow elongated metallic strip whose length is somewhat greater than the total width of the structure, moving the strip bodily as a unit into position in the structure and permanently attaching the strip to said horizon- Y tal supporting members.

8. The process of erecting a roof which consists in erecting two spaced supporting members,

preparing a relativelynarrow elongated metallic Ystrip in length somewhat greater than the Vdistance between said supporting members, placing said strip on the ground in general alignment with the position it is ultimately to assume, attaching a tension member to the forward end of `the strip and a hold back member to the rear end of the strip, such tension and hold back members forming the sole'tension support for the metallic strip as the latter is moved into position, pulling on the tension member to move the strip until its forward end is in immediate juxtaposition with one of the supporting members while holding back on the rear end of the strip until its rear end is in immediate juxtaposition with the other'member, then fastening such ends to the adjacent supporting members and continuing the process with the second strip and then fastening the edges of the adjacent strips together.

9. The process of erectinga structure, which consists in the following steps, erecting a plurality of supporting members, preparing a relatively narrow elongated metallic strip whose length is Vgreater than the distance between the said supporting members, engaging the strip at its two ends, moving the body as a unit into position in the structure without other support than that engaged at its two ends, and attaching the strip Y permanently to the supporing member.

l0. The process of erecting a structure which consists in the following steps, erecting a plurality of supporting members, preparing a relatively narrow elongated metallic strip whose length is greater than the distance between the said supporting members, engaging the strip at its two ends, moving thebody as a unit into position in engaged at its two ends, and attaching the strip permanently to the supporting member, and thereafter similarly movingv similar successive strips into position between the supporting members, attaching them thereto and attaching adjoining edges of adjoining strips together.

11. The process of erecting a structure which consists in the following steps, erecting a. plurality of supporting members, preparing a relatively` narrow elongated metallic strip whose length is greater than the distance between the said supporting members, engaging rthe strip at its two ends, moving the body as a unit into position in the structure without other support than that engaged at its two ends, and attaching' the strip permanently to the supporting member, and thereafter similarly moving similar successive strips into position between thesupporting members, attaching them thereto and attaching adjoining edges of adjoining strips together, each strip overlapping one edge of an adjacent strip, whereby it is partially supported thereby.

12. The process of erecting aV structure which consists in erecting a plurality of fixed supporting members, preparing a relatively narrow, elongated metallic strip, moving the strip bodily into position in the structure and successively adding tothe length of the strip additional strip members as the strip is moved into position in the structure, and permanently attaching the strip to such supporting members.

13. The process of erecing a structure which consists in erecting a plurality of fixed supporting members, preparing a relatively narrow, elongated metallic strip, moving the strip bodily into position in the structure and successively adding to the length of the strip additional strip members as the strip is moved into position in the structure, and permanently attaching the strip to such supporting members, and continuing the process to build up and move into position a second strip, and fastening the adjacent edges of 20 the strips together.

- HENRY G. ONSTAD. 

